Posts Tagged ‘Joseph and his brothers’

I woke up this morning feeling like garbage! I felt grumpy, head-achey just all around miserable! I didn’t notice just how crummy I was feeling until I got ticked at my cup of coffee before I’d even had a sip. Don’t ask.

I’ve had an issue rolling around inside my head & heart for the last few days. Waking up this morning was like the eruption of all the feels! I’ve prayed over it. I’ve talked about it with my hubby. I’ve pondered it in my thoughts. I’ve laid it down and then picked it up again. This morning, God said, “Let’s get this done with!”.

So, here I am. Pouring out my thoughts on rejection. Don’t misunderstand, I’m no expert on Biblical understanding of how other people love or don’t love. All I can do is share what God has told me through scripture and prayer. I’m all wrecked and flawed like everyone else. I’m trying to live as a blank slate every single day! I get up & look for God to use me, fill me and make me more like Him because, friends, I ain’t no good as is!

I NEED JESUS!

God is a slick operator (I mean, hey…HE’S GOD!!! Duh), my morning devotion was on rejection straight up in my face! The writer told a story about a time a really close friend dissed her in a big way for what felt like no reason at all. She was so hurt that she acted out in her flesh and sought out some sort of retaliation against her “friend”. She felt all the hurt feelings and thought all the negative thoughts that most of us tend to feel when we’re in such a situation. Rejection hurts. It crushes us and wounds us and our natural reaction is to fire back. To make the offender feel like they’ve made us feel.

God goes about dealing with rejection in the absolute opposite way. (Of course HE does) He says, “Do not judge and you will not be judged!” Ouch! Also, “Do not condemn and you will not be condemned!” Oh Lord, come on! Here’s the big one, “Forgive and you will be forgiven!” Yikes! I’m being measured just like everyone else and I know better than to be vengeful or mean-spirited to others. God has a better way. He’s offering me the choice to love like HIM.

READ LUKE 6:37-42

Funny how far off the path we can get when we act out or feel life’s struggles in our own fleshly way. I do not have to worry about anyone who doesn’t want to be my friend or whether they like me, accept me or ever speak to me again. My role isn’t to chase people down and force them to care about me. My role is to be a loving person to them no matter how they treat me. If they insult me or ignore me, love them anyway. I’m no better than they are and God will bless me for my obedience to Him.

I answer to God, not others.

The greatest thing I can do for me and for them is to pray for them. Genuinely seek God in blessing their lives and for opportunities to be a Christ-like friend whenever I have the chance. Rejection isn’t fatal. Sometimes it’s a painful way of learning to look to Jesus for acceptance in a world heck bent on spitting in the face of God. My little hurt feelings are nothing compared with the rejection my Lord has suffered. Seriously, He never did anything rude or ugly to anyone (I can’t claim that) yet He suffered the worst kind of rejection.

I’ll end with this, remember how jealous and cruel Joseph’s brothers were to him? They really disliked their little brother, enough so that they threw him in a hole to get rid of him forever! Joseph didn’t die there but he struggled through some rough treatment before his most important role. When he finally came face-to-face with those same mean brothers they were shakin in their sandals for the way they treated him. Joseph had every right to lash out and to destroy them for their sin against him…but, he didn’t dare. He lovingly told them, it’s okay. What you meant as harm for me…GOD HAS USED IT FOR GOOD!

Whatever someone is doing to you or has done to you — don’t let it consume you or wreck your heart. Trust God that He is going to use it for good. Maybe not right now, could be for a far off time but trust Him that He will make it right. Love & be loved. Be a friend, turn the cheek and remember rejection isn’t about you it’s about them.

I’ve had the nerve to question God a time or two during this uncertain time in our lives. I know, right? I catch myself feeling all sorry and down (maybe it’s because the stress of not finding a replacement job is looming overhead, I don’t know) and when I get in that low kind of thinking – I cry out to Him with “WHAT ARE YOU DOING, GOD?” questions.

As if it’s any of my business.

I know I can trust Him. I know I can hold fast to His promise. I know He can make beauty from ashes. I know He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. I know He will never forsake me. I know He doesn’t cause pain. I know He uses the broken. I know He can use what someone meant for evil as good. I know He cares about my future. I know He loves me. I know He sees what is happening. I know He has a plan.

I know it all. Yet, here I am walking around bleary-eyed from another up & down sleepless night. My mind racing with thoughts of how quickly the time is passing without a single word of a new job prospect. We could lose our house and more if my hubby doesn’t find a job.

So, knowing all that I know about real life….I can’t help but feel apprehensive about our future.

This morning, God reminded me AGAIN just how mighty He is and that He is mindful of ME in the midst of my worrying. For the last few weeks, the story of Joseph has been pounded into my brain and I don’t believe it’s by accident. While Joseph’s life and mine are not the same (no one’s throwing me down a well to die to get rid of me) much of what we’re going through feels as though we’ve been tossed away and just forgotten. Like, we never mattered.

Joseph endured some rough years all because of what his brothers’ did to him. They meant him harm. Jealousy, dirty-hearted unkindness and sin in their hearts drove them to leave him there to die. I wonder if they ever even thought of him again after they walked away that day.

I’ve felt that about my own situation too. Is anyone even concerned that we may lose our whole world? Has anyone thought about us? Our bills? Our medical needs? Our college kid? Anything? Hello? Anybody?

Are we just done here? Goodbye?

Then God brings me back to Joseph. For years he lived in uncertainty. He was taken to Egypt, bought by Potiphar, given the job of overseer of his house, too good-looking not to catch the eye of an unhappy wife, accused of rape, thrown in jail and there he sat until he was called upon to interpret Pharaoh’s dream….where he finally gets his feet underneath him and proves he can be trusted. The road to success was bumpy, wouldn’t you say? Matter of fact, it was awful. Dreadful.

My situation feels awful, it seems dreadful. I fear I won’t last 13 years (that’s about how long Joseph was tossed here & there). I need rescuing soon, Lord (picture me, crying out again).

Then, the famine. Guess who comes to see Joseph for help? The brothers who meant him harm. They didn’t have a thought in the world that they’d be bowing down to their own flesh and blood for help. Never in their wildest dreams because they had left all concern for Joseph down in that well years before. He was gone from their lives or so they thought.

If you’ve ever wondered….Does God use what someone means as evil to fulfill His glory? YES, YES HE DOES. Remember Babylon? In the book of Habakkuk, God used the Babylonians (an evil people) to accomplish His will. His purpose was to bring judgement on Judah for their idolatry. Babylon, was His instrument. Joseph’s brothers? His instrument as well. What they did out of the meanness of their hearts, God used to fulfill His divine plan.

“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” Genesis 50:20

I know I can hold fast to God’s ultimate plan for my future. I believe He is going to bless my family in spite of what feels like turmoil and unease. I know good can come from what seems like disaster. And I know, HE WILL USE WHOMEVER AND WHATEVER TO FULFILL HIS MISSION in my life.

God,
You work in mysterious ways. Sometimes it’s right out in front for everyone to see and other times it’s hidden from all eyes. I know, You have a plan for me and my life. Help me to rest in that promise.
Amen.